Ross indicted for shooting his wife

Written by Larry Limpf

May 20, 2013

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The Ottawa County Grand Jury has indicted Randall J. Ross for the March 27 shooting death of his estranged wife, Amy.

According to Mark Mulligan, county prosecutor, Ross was indicted on seven counts, including murder, aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, and kidnapping. Firearm specifications are included in the indictment.

All of the charges are first degree felonies.

The shooting occurred at the N. Leutz Road home of Andrea Swope, Amy’s sister, where she had been staying.

She was found in an upstairs bedroom with a gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Swope called the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department shortly before noon to report the shooting and told dispatchers Randall had then shot himself and was still at the residence.

Carroll Township Police Chief Jody Hatfield was the first responding officer to arrive at the scene and encountered Ross in the driveway. He was treated at the scene for two head wounds by the township fire department before being taken by Life Flight to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo.

He was released May 8 from the hospital. When he was released, Sheriff Steve Levorchick said he would be held in a correctional facility capable of providing suitable medical care.

Levorchick said Ross forced his way into the house and chased Amy upstairs.

The victim and Ross had lived on County Road 265, Fremont, before she moved in with her sister.

Records in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court indicate she filed a divorce complaint last year, including a motion for a mutual restraining order, but then filed a dismissal notice less that a month later.

Swope’s daughter was at home at the time of the shooting, according to Sheriff Levorchick.

Swope and her father and brother filed a civil lawsuit in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court last month against Ross.

Indictments returnedThe grand jury also indicted Dennis Saldusky, Fostoria, on two counts of election falsification – both fifth degree felonies – for allegedly voting in Ottawa County when it wasn’t his residence.

Derek Thayer, whose last known address is in the Bono area, was charged with one count of failure to appear after reportedly not attending a hearing on an unrelated indictment earlier this month.